The real cost of world hunger is certainly not the $18 billion a year the UN said it needs. The real cost lies in the depression, agony, daily hunger and disease that going to sleep with an empty stomach brings out in those who live it with them every day. It is hard trying to get someone who just ate a sumptuous meal to listen to the problems of people in some remote part of the world who cannot remember eating more than a meager ration of food.
Nothing on earth is a greater catalyst for creating a pandemic of bad things sown in the minds of the young who survive. That’s the real problem of hunger! In the book I wrote titled “One People, One World, One Accord. I asked a very basic question. It was simply: “How can anyone face their children knowing that somewhere on earth a child born to parents who also love their children just as much as those whit full bellies do are condemned to watch them suffer with malnutrition or even die of starvation. Their child’s death is not the fault of your children, nor the parents of the dead child. It is the indifference of everyone in the world who can lavish expensive gifts and other good things on their children with full knowledge that someone else’s child is starving to death.
The criticism here goes further than well-to-do parents living in well-to-do countries or leaders of countries living well-to-do lives. It goes to the definition of what it means to be human. It goes to prove whether we are a human family or a predatory specie of individual haves and have-nots. In other words, the criticism emanates from the most basic commandments written in the Bible, Quran, and every other Holy Scripture. Nor does it does it advocate or condemn any form of government. I am attacking whether one truly loves their neighbor or not, for the future of the world is directly proportional to the number of hungry bellies to full bellies because a child’s suffering is also a testament to the commitments to the basic tenets of every religion. If a child is suffering anywhere in the world, it proves that religion does not believe in its own scriptures and therefore, forms the basis for our individual worthiness of going to the kingdom of heaven. After all, the mere fact that a child can grow up hungry every day is proof of the failure of every form of government and…every form of religion.
There is no light at the end of the tunnel because there are not enough of us that genuinely want to change what the less fortunate must contend with even though Christian fund raising television shows graphically shows what children in places like Africa and Central and South America must contend with every day. Relatively little is being done to cure these ills. Every year the United Nations releases numbers that show the number of people on the edge of total starvation is growing in spite of humanitarian programs and NGOs because their efforts cannot keep pace with the magnitude of the problem. I believe that the reason they cannot keep up is because there are not enough people willing to make a difference. After all, the quality of life in theocracies like several Arab states ranges from desperate poverty to lavish wealth and yet a handful of leaders can simply mandate an end to poverty. It is time to make a choice. We can end human suffering and misery if we want to…if we want to…if we want to… because 10% of the wealth of the top 5%t of the wealthiest people could feed more than 500 million people a year. Don’t take my word for it. Check out the Gates Foundation and other programs like that.
In the book I wrote titled “Relentless Self-Righteousness. I asked a very basic question. It was simply: “How anyone can face their children knowing that somewhere on earth a child is born to parents who love their children as much as anyone else are condemned to watch them die of starvation. Their death is not the fault of your children, nor the parents of the dead children. It is the fault of everyone in the world who can feel good about the well-being of their children while knowing that someone else’s is starving to death. Comment: The mere fact that a child can starve to death is proof of the moral failure of every form of government and every form of religion. Do you agree? Mel Reed
